Struggle for Life
About Struggle for Life
Jean Morin, a draftsman played by René Alexandre, loses his job at a factory in Nantes after an affair with a worker angers the manager, who then blocks him from other work in the city. On the road he saves an old farmer, Père Migaut, who is about to be crushed under the wheels of his plow. The farmer takes him on. Migaut's sons resent the city man and drive him out. He reaches Paris with nothing, takes odd jobs, and is hired by the industrialist Jacques Préval. He falls in love with Préval's daughter Claire, played by Gabrielle Robinne, and marries her.
Cast & crew
More about Struggle for Life
René Leprince and Ferdinand Zecca directed. Pierre Decourcelle and Leprince wrote the scenario. Pathé released the film in France on February 20, 1914. It runs 69 minutes. Gabriel Signoret plays Jacques Préval. Louis Ravet plays Migaut's son. Simone Mareix plays the farmer's daughter. Carmen Deraisy plays a beggar in a public garden.
Themes
Making
Leprince and Zecca split the direction. The first half stays in Nantes and on Migaut's farm. The second half moves Morin to Préval's works in Paris.
Preservation
A restored print circulates, and a copy is posted for viewing.
Notes
- The French title is La Lutte pour la vie.
- The Nantes section uses a country fete with local extras beside the professional cast.
- A restored black-and-white copy runs about 71 minutes in one circulating print. The 1914 release length is given as 69 minutes.
- Frédéric Delmeulle has written on the film as an experiment inside Pathé's early features.
Scenes
- Morin stops the plow horses that are dragging Père Migaut.
- The sons turn him off the farm, and he leaves for Paris.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-struggle-for-life)